I Have Something To Tell You
by Ms Isabella
Summary: Hard to summarize without giving anything away. Another Jaylor story pre wedding. Chapter 5 now up. Enjoy and feel free to read, review, and enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

I Have Something To Tell You…..

Chapter 1

Taylor unlocked the apartment door in a hurry when she heard yelling. No doubt Joe was upset about something, but with whom he was upset, she didn't know. She opened the door and stepped inside, calling out "I'm home," to give him a heads up. She kicked off her Dansko's and made her way to the kitchen.

As she stood in the doorway, her eyes took in things she would have never believed. Leon was sitting at the table, Joe was standing and alternating glares between Leon and the one hardass she despised more than the Devil himself. Sergeant Hank Voight. She looked at Joe, eyes questioning. He shrugged.

"Ma'am," Voight greeted, surprising her. His usual greeting for her was "Get the fuck out of my way, I got work to do."

"Sergeant Voight," she said evenly, staring him down, letting him know that this was her house, her territory, and he had better not think of pulling any shit. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Hank took her in. Taylor Williams was the last person he had expected to see entering this party. Chicago Med's UCAN Chief Nurse and ER nurse must have something going on with Joe Cruz. She was trying to be polite, but he got her message loud and clear that she wasn't going to take anything he was dishing out. They had had their tussles in the Chicago Med ER, mostly her trying to keep him out and keep him from doing his job. She never seemed to get it that he had a job to do as well. She always believed her job trumped his on any day of the week. He found it amusing that she was standing there voice, tone and stance telling him he had better not try anything. As tough and spunky as she was, Voight couldn't help but like her. She, however, had made it very clear to him that she despised him and his whole cowboy cop routine.

"I was just leaving. You have a good night now." He looked and Cruz and Leon, giving them both an _'Oh, shit, you are so in trouble now,'_ look.

When the apartment door closed, Taylor looked at Joe. "Ok, so do you want to tell me why Voight of all people was here?"

"Stopped by for coffee," Joe tried, knowing she wouldn't believe him.

"Nice try. Next?" She glanced at Leon. "I have a feeling this involves you, Leon. I thought you were straightening up and flying right."

"I was!" he exclaimed as he jumped up from the table. "It's all Joe's fault!"

Taylor looked at Leon. The kid had been trying so hard to set his life right since leaving the gang several months earlier. Obviously, Voight's visit had something to do with Leon's past associates. "You want to tell me what happened?" she asked gently. While Joe was the protective older brother, Taylor had tried to get Leon to open up in the past, but he never would. 

Joe walked over to the table and pulled out a chair. "You'd better sit down, Tay. I have something to tell you and you're not going to like it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Taylor sat down at the table and looked at Leon, then at Joe. "Ok, just what was Joe's fault?"

"He went to Flaco and tried to get me out of the gang. Flaco wanted 10 grand. Joe didn't have it," Leon explained.

Taylor looked up at Joe. He nodded in confirmation. "You know you could have come to me, and I would have helped you out."

"I couldn't do that, Taylor. First off, we were just barely dating again, and secondly, a guy does not ask a woman for money."

"This is different, Joe. This is family. We do what we can for family. My money is your money if you need it."

"It's your money, Taylor. I'm not touching your money. But it doesn't matter now. Flaco's dead and Leon was able to get out- for a while."

"And now he's back in?"

"No, but Voight got wind of it. He wanted to use Leon as a snitch."

"And knowing Voight, I'm sure he had something on Leon that made it impossible to refuse."

"Something like that," Joe admitted, refusing to elaborate.

Leon looked at Joe, knowing he wasn't telling her the whole truth, and wondering if he was going to.

Taylor sighed. She adored Joe. She adored his family, but Leon had tested even Joe's sainted mother's patience time and time again. "So, I'm assuming shit went down tonight?"

"Big time. And now Leon needs to leave town for a bit. Only he doesn't want to go live with our Uncle in Tampa."

"I don't want to leave!"

Taylor closed her eyes and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table, her head landing in her open hands. Wearily, she rubbed her temples. She took a couple of deep breaths and let them out slowly.

"Tay?" Joe asked.

'I'm thinking," she said.

"About what?"

"About whether or not I should say anything or just let you handle this."

"And?"

"As female as this sounds, I'm going to let you handle this. Not because I'm being a wimp, but this is between you and Leon. I don't get a vote. And I have a feeling that no matter what I say, someone is going to like it and someone is going to be pissed."

"Tay, you just said we do what we can for family," Joe pleaded.

"That is true. Really though, this is Leon's decision. It isn't right for us to make it for him."

"Leon won't listen to reason!"

Taylor opened an eye and looked at Joe. "Did you when you were his age?"

Joe sighed. "I'm not going to let him kill himself!" he exclaimed, his temper finally exploding.

Leon stood up. "You don't have any say, Joe! This is my life!"

Taylor looked at Leon. "Well, you have two choices. You can stay here and get killed or you can go to Tampa for a bit and be alive."

"You just want to send me away!"

"No!" Joe yelled. "I want you alive and safe! I don't want to lose any more family to these assholes! **WHY** can't you understand that?"

Leon sat back down. "Because it's not as strong as it used to be. I'll be safe here. I know it."

"Times of weakness are the worst times, Leon. With Flaco gone, someone is going to try to power grab. You may be safe for a week or two, a month at the most. But you're not going to be safe forever. And now they think you're a snitch, you're really not safe."

"And you know this how, Miss High and Mighty Nurse?"

Joe opened his mouth to say something, but she waved her hand. "I know this because I used to date a member of the Gang Unit. And you will not address me that way again, or I will knock your teeth so far down your throat you will have to chew through your asshole. Got it?"

Leon stared at her, eyes open wide. He remembered Joe dating her when he was a kid, but he didn't remember her being such a bitch. Bitch being the relative term. He was giving her shit and he knew it, but he didn't expect her to not only call him on it, but make him clean it up. "I got it. And I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. Not for what I said. You needed to hear it. I'm sorry you seem to have such a low value on your life that you can't think about anything but staying here."

Leon sighed. He knew Taylor and Joe were right, but he didn't like it. He also knew it probably was best for him to lay low in Tampa for a bit. "Alright," he conceded. "I'll go to Tampa. But I'm only staying a month or so."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Boards are in the books, and I passed, so now I can concentrate on writing and bringing all of you more of my work. Enjoy the latest installment. Thanks go out to the usual suspects (you all know who you are!) for all of their support, kind words and "hey, would you mind writing this?" If it weren't for that, I would never have written several stories, and I love all of you giving me ideas because it gives me a chance to stretch my creativity. Thank you so much again. ~Ms. Iz. _

After a bunch of phone calls and checking online sites, Leon had a plane ticket to Tampa and a new life.

He hugged Joe at the security point, promising he would do what it took to get back to Chicago soon. He gave Taylor a kiss on the cheek and a small hug.

Taylor felt Joe's arm around her neck and she wanted so much to lean against him, to give him that hug that he so desperately needed and wouldn't admit that he needed. She knew that sending Leon to Tampa was killing him inside, but Joe would do anything he had to do to protect his family. They both watched silently as Leon made his way through security and headed for his flight.

"Let's go," Joe said as Leon left his sight. She turned and gave him a hug. He needed one. Joe hugged her tightly and rested his head on top of hers. "What would I do without you?"

"Pray you never have to find out," she whispered.

Suddenly becoming aware they were in public, he took a couple of steps back. "We had better go," he said, slipping her hand in his.

He unlocked the apartment door and waited for her to enter. Once inside, he looked at Taylor. "Did I do the right thing?"

"Yes. You did," she reassured him. "I just hope he stays on the right path down there."

"I'll call every day to see how he is doing. I'm sure he is plenty pissed with me right now."

"With you, no. With me, yes."

"He has no right to be pissed at you."

"Ah, but he does. I not only called him on his shit, I made him clean it up. Therefore, that puts me in the Bitch category. No biggie. He'll get over it. Someday."

"Yeah, but he had no right to disrespect you like that."

"He learned. That's all that is important."

Joe looked at her, then blew out a sigh. He had other information he had to tell her, and he didn't want to. He knew if he told her, she would leave him for good. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I have some more to tell you, and you're not going to like this either."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Taylor looked at him. "Joe, can we talk about this in later? I'm so brain dead and worn out, I don't even know my own name right now. Can't we just go to bed and make love and shut the whole world out? It has been one hell of a day."

Joe looked at her. She was giving him an out and a chance to postpone the inevitable. "Of course we can go to bed. It has been one hell of a day."

She gave him a small smile. "I love you, Joe Cruz."

He took her hand. "I love you, Taylor. Come on, let's go to bed."

Taylor stretched out in bed and Joe poured lotion on her back. He rubbed it in, trying to knead out the tension knots in her back and neck. Taylor purred as he worked the knots. "Bad, huh?"

"Very bad," he agreed. "Thank God we can sleep in tomorrow."

"Yes, but I have lunch with Pearl tomorrow," she reminded.

"That's lunch. You'll be awake by then."

Taylor closed her eyes. "You spoil me so much."

Joe leaned forward and gave her shoulder a kiss. "You spoil me, Babe."

"You're easy to spoil. Just keep the fridge stocked with beer and the TV on ESPN." She rolled over and patted the bed beside her. "Come. Let me rub your back."

Joe moved beside her, rolling over on his stomach. Taylor reached for the lotion bottle and poured some into her hands. "You're tight too," she said. 

"All this crap with Leon," he admitted. "It really got to me."

"It got to all of us."

"Thanks for being there. I don't think I could have convinced him without you."

"I didn't convince him. He didn't want to listen to me."

"And who did you date in the Gang Unit?"

She sighed. "It was a long time ago. It didn't last long. I'm just not cut out to be a cop's wife."

"You think you're cut out to be a firefighter's wife?"

"I'm cut out to be **your** wife."

Joe rolled over on his side. "I like the sound of that." Even as he said it, he felt a sickness in his stomach. If she knew his secret, he knew she would leave him. He didn't want that, but she needed to know. _'Tomorrow,'_ he told himself. _'I'll tell her tomorrow.' _


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Joe rolled over and snuggled Taylor closer to him. He closed his eyes, wondering if this would be the last time he ever got to hold her in his arms. He felt his stomach roll over. He didn't want to tell her, but he knew he had to.

Taylor felt Joe moving and opened her eyes. She rolled over and gave him a kiss. "Morning, Sexy One," she said as she snuggled into him.

"Good morning, Beautiful."

Taylor looked at him. His eyes looked tired. "You don't look good. Didn't sleep well?"

"No, he said. "Tossed and turned all night."

"I'm sorry, Babe. I know it was a rough one on you yesterday."

"And it's not over yet," he said. He took a deep breath. "Tay, we have to talk."

She sat up and leaned against the headboard. "Is it about Leon?"

"No, it's about Flaco. You remember that big fire about 6 months ago over on West Thomas?"

She remembered it very well. The ER at Chicago Med was packed for 12 hours treating victims of that fire. She nodded. "It was a bad one." She thought for a minute. "Wait a minute. Isn't that the fire that Flaco died in?"

He nodded. "That's the one."

"Okay, so what is the problem? He didn't make it out. It happens." She looked at him. "Joe?" she asked, suddenly realizing he knew more than he was telling her. 

Joe gulped in breaths of air. He had to tell her. There was no turning back now. "He didn't make it out because I didn't help him out."

She looked at him, his words barely registering for a few seconds. "You didn't help him out? Meaning you left him behind?"

He nodded.

She sat silently for a few seconds. What he had just told her was he had pretty much left someone to die in a fire. The shock slowly riveted through her. Her mind trying to comprehend what he had just confirmed, but it didn't work. What he had just admitted to was not the act of the Joe Cruz that she knew and loved. She blinked several times. She felt her stomach knot and roll over.

"Taylor-" he said, voice thick and choking with emotion.

She looked at him. "I can't believe this," she said.

Joe took her hand. "I've been to Church and Confession. I was going to resign from CFD but Matt wouldn't accept my resignation. He knows."

"And that's what Voight had on Leon," she said. "He threatened you with this if Leon didn't cooperate, didn't he?"

Joe nodded. "Leon really had no choice."

"Of course not. There's never a choice with Voight. He makes sure of it."

"Can you forgive me, Taylor? Can you marry me knowing what you know?"

She looked at him, seeing the face of her best male friend, her lover, her future husband., the future father of her children. _'This is so out of character for him,'_ she thought. She took a breath, then let it out slowly. "Joe, what you did, that's not the act of the Joe Cruz that I know and love. It was the act of a man desperate to save his family."

"I had to save Leon. I saw the chance, I took it."

"You know, I can't judge you on this. That's not my job. That's for God to do. But I think he understands."

"But do you?" he asked in desperation. He was trying to control his internal freak out, but it wasn't working.

"I do," she said softly. "I understand completely. Joe, I love you. Your love for your family is one of the reasons why I love you. You weren't thinking about the consequences. You were thinking about Leon."

"I was. I kept thinking if Flaco wasn't around, Leon would be safe."

"And he was for a while."

"Until Voight showed up."

Taylor snarled. "I despise him."

"Everyone does. Every time he shows up, you need to check your balls because he always threatens to grab them."

She leaned over and gave him a kiss. "He'd better not be grabbing for yours or he's going to have me to contend with."

"No chance of that happening, Babe."

She looked at him. "So, are we okay?"

"Baby, we are more than okay."


End file.
